Welcome to the Climate Youth Negotiators Programme!
We need trusted, effective leaders to achieve climate justice. While multilateral climate negotiations are crucial, negotiations are complex and take extensive knowledge, experience and intuition to master. In short - becoming an effective climate change negotiator takes time (which we’re fast running out of) and money (an issue which entrenches existing systemic inequalities). Truly just and sustainable climate action actively involves all generations in decision making. Young people’s equal participation in climate change decision-making is fundamental to innovative and fair policies that reflect and respond to the needs of the global community and future generations.
We create the next generation of climate change negotiators with the skills, knowledge, networks and resources to deliver transformative change. Hence we propose the Climate Youth Negotiator Programme (CYNP) - a global intergenerational programme aimed at redressing this systemic inequality of youth representation in negotiations and decision making by tackling the root causes of this issue by:● Empowering and activating young people as positive agents of change
- Developing young people’s negotiation and leadership skills through a targeted training programme so they can become effective climate negotiators;
- The creation of a community of youth negotiators, recognising that global support networks and productive professional relationships are crucial to foster inclusion and increase the effectiveness of youth negotiators.
● Driving systems change to ensure long-term meaningful youth participation in decision-making
- Tackling the existing substantial funding barriers that often prevent young people from participating in climate negotiations through dedicated youth travel grants;
- Transforming mindsets to recognise, value and seek the contributions of young people on Party delegations, through focussed advocacy and outreach.
Support climate change literacy
We want to continue our crucial journey to equip people with the skills and knowledge needed to make informed decisions, to act and to fight climate crisis.
DonateOur Case for Change
The Moral Imperative: Children and young adults have a right to take part in and influence decision making about their future. The Climate Youth Negotiator Programme ensures the meaningful participation of young people in climate change negotiations by equipping them with all the needed skills and giving them a seat at the decision making tables.The National Imperative: To best represent their communities’ needs, countries must invest in succession planning to ensure they have their best people at the table to negotiate on their behalf at multilateral conferences.The Climate Youth Negotiator Programme offers countries a holistic, consistent and powerful talent management tool, so they can be confident they have the skilled negotiators they need for negotiations now, and in the future.
The Intergenerational Imperative: Young people have contributed the least to the current climate crisis, but are the most likely to experience its catastrophic consequences. We also see an intersectional effect, with the countries with the youngest populations also some of the most geographically vulnerable to climate disasters. Empowering youth to participate in climate change negotiations is fundamental to securing intergenerationally fair and just policies that both reflect and respond to the needs of the global community now, and that protect the rights of generations to come in the future.
The Transformational Imperative: To address the root causes of the climate crisis, we need systemic change across all sections of society. Children and young adults are the largest generation of untouched potential, a driving force and catalyst for radical and transformational change in international climate change negotiations. Harnessing this potential could change the fate of the planet.
The Programme at a Glance
- Module 0: Introduction and information kit
- Module 1: Introduction to the Climate Youth Negotiator Programme
- Module 2: Institutional Knowledge - Introduction to multilateral climate processes and UNFCCC - let’s get started!
- Module 3: Thematic knowledge: history of climate change negotiations and current status of international agreements - what’s at stake?
- Module 4: Technical skills and knowledge: Negotiations, drafting and delivering interventions - how do I engage?
- Module 5: Practical skills and knowledge: Leadership and well-being - because we take care of ourselves
- Module 6: Negotiation simulation - are we ready?